My two days in London seemed unwittingly to have had a religious theme to them. Running alongside the Grayson Perry exhibition is one on Haj and at the Wellcome are exhibitions of Mexican votive paintings and talisman - or mans -.
The Haj exhibition is certainly interesting though as a non-believer I found it rather oppressive. There are some extraordinary pictures of the immense crowds circulambulating the Ka'ba and a speeded up film that looks apocalyptic, as a vast swirl of humanity is being swept down a plughole. One of the points of interest for me were some photographs of Mecca by Snouck Hurgonje the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies and a rather extraordinary man. Here is the link to his Wikipedia page
As well as the exhibitions I also wanted to look at some examples of the early Thai art I mentioned a few entries back. In the South East Asian section of the BM I found an exquisite walking Buddha, only about six inches tall, from Sukhothai. About 14th Cent. CE. Walking Buddhas are very rare and of special significance in Thai culture. Click here to see it
I also came across some wonderful Gandharan heads that I'd somehow missed in my earlier visits. Gandhara is my favourite style of Buddhist sculpture, it is very easy to recognise because of the Greek influence and much more expressive than the serene Gupta and later schools.
I travelled to London with Viv who intended to see her sick cousin, who unfortunately died before she could visit the hospital, so while I went to the BM she visited relatives She was however, able to come to Henry's in the evening where she was delighted to meet a fellow virologist and old friend who specialised in the notorious Blue Tongue Virus. I bet you didn't know viruses had tongues. We all had to circulate and show off our talispersons and with unlimited wine and snacks it made for a very enjoyable evening.
Early on Wednesday morning there was a resounding Boing! and it seems Spring has suddenly sprung. There are buds on the trees, a coloured sprinkling of croquettes among the grass and ekor anak domba - otherwise known as kucing lucu - on the bushes. So I have been out an bought some plants for the back yard and it is time to stop writing and start planting while the sun shines.
Oh, the Jade Monkey of Silence. If you get the chance to visit the Miracles and Charms exhibition at The Wellcome try and see if you can find the Jade Monkey of Silence. It is not easy but I did. I could tell you where to look but like the Jade Monkey I shall remain silent.